A second image of a mule exists in the novel. Matt Bonner's mule also represents mistreatment and betrayal. Perhaps Janie feels sympathy for the poor animal because she, too, suffers the effects of abuse, just as the mule does. While the mistreatment that Janie endures is primarily emotional, the abuse that the mule experiences is mostly physical. Regardless of the type of mistreatment each faces, the mule exists as a symbol of the abuse that Janie encounters in her marriage to Joe.
One of the most powerful metaphors in the novel is the blossoming pear tree. Janie is enchanted by the beautiful tree in Nanny's backyard. As she climbs the tree and sits in its branches, Janie realizes the meaning of true love when she sees the marriage of the bees to the blossoms in the pear tree. The blossoming pear tree symbolizes Janie's emerging womanhood. Janie's image of love, as she saw it in the pear tree, causes her to embark on her lifelong search for love.
